Ray Johnson The Father of Mail Art

  Ray Johnson was known as the "Father of Mail Art". He  connected with others through art and mail for many years, spurring others to follow suit and send their own little pieces of postal art out into the world. He created the New York Correspondence School as a platform from which to launch many Mail related projects.

One of Ray's bunnies. 

  Cracker Jack Kid, a present day Mail Artist, created a blog as a tribute to Ray Johnson, who tragically committed suicide in 1995. He had this to say about Ray and his contributions to the world of  art: "...The New York Correspondence School was established in the early 60's, it was singularly the most important contribution of Ray Johnson to the history of art, a point missed by leading newspapers and art magazines reporting Johnson's death. It was Fluxus and Ray Johnson's NYCS that birthed mail art, the largest international art community and movement in the history of art. Membership into NYCS was bestowed upon anyone Johnson chose to correspond with, and the exchanges were wonderful, intimately engaging verbal and visual play. Throughout the 1960's and until his death, Ray Johnson was the conduit, the server, the proto-internet Dada daddy, surfing the mailstream, invading mailboxes everywhere with bunnies, imaginary fan clubs, and correspondence wordplay. Mail artists around the world embraced Johnson's notion of making ordinary mail and art of extraordinary wit and beauty..." 
  Ray's bunny is to the mail art what the EverReady bunny is to batteries. The symbol of something that just keeps going and going....